UpstateNY's Comments (1356)

“I'm not a fan of Baucus after what he tried to do to the health bill, but this is NOT a story.

He was separated from his wife (presumably on the way to divorcing), he didn't try and slip her in but submitted her name to a reviewer and hers was not the only name. She might very well be very qualified for the job and people usually submit names of people they know personally.

Unless we find out he tried to use coercion to get her the job (not clear now), I don't see anything wrong here”

“What do you think they'll be doing when GE doesn't own NBC any more. No more microwave jokes? I hope it will be funny. I love Alex Baldwin.”

“I think it's cute and what keeps them young and their marriage sexy. I don't need to be involved but then again, I didn't need to flip through the images either.”

“Sounds like Star is bitter. I don't think Barbara will spend too much time worrying about it though.”

“I hope you're right but why do you think the Secret Service would have stopped them if they had a weapon. I think they are supposed to look at everyone as a possible threat.

Anyway, it's over. Hopefully, it will serve as a wake-up call, the Secret Service will make the necessary changes and our President will be safer.”

“If that is so - then thanks for info. I just hope they are also re-examining their procedures and if someone from the Social Secretary's office should be at the door, then make that part of their duty. Just let's make sure our First Family is safe especially in the White House.”

“More information than I ever needed.”

“They are just in the family of man and if you believe in God, they are God's children as well.”

“Exactly, people who profess to be religious should understand the gay men and women are God's children. They are going against their own God when they don't accept their gay brothers and sisters and don't allow them the same rites as straights.”

“Climate change is science - it doesn't matter if the day-to-day temperature goes up or down.”

“She also rails against "snake oil" science, and says, "Policy decisions require real science and real solutions"

Ms Palin is an expert at 'snake oil' being the best 'snake oil' salesman we've ever seen. But science - give me a break - she doesn't know anything about science!”

“"Shadowing the first couple" might just be the job of the Social Secretary. Protecting them from harm is the job of the Secret Service.”

“It seems to me that the Secret Service has the responsibility to protect the President.

If they think having the Social Secretary or someone from that office present at the door, they should have asked for that.

The Secret Service dropped the ball here and they should be fixing the problem, not trying to deflect the blame to someone else.”

“"We didn't call out Obama and some of his associates on their records and what their beliefs were"

Really? I seem to remember someone dressed in high heels saying how Obama 'palled around with terrorists" over and over and over and over again!

What a short memory - or selective memory. Ms. Palin has a different remembrance of the McCain/Palin campaign than even the people who worked on the campaign.”

“With lifetime pension and health insurance benefits - is that right?”

“Sad - how easily people are led by loud radio/tv personalities (who have health insurance) and the millions health insurance companies spend on ads and to buy politicians.

This isn't new . 1992 was just the last time that real health insurance reform was tried and people were scared into inaction - they were afraid they wouldn't be able to choose their own doctors or be able to have procedures and medicines covered..

And how well did that work? Let's see, if you have an HMO or are in a plan that supports a network, you cannot go outside the HMO or network without penalties (at the least); and insurance premiums gone way up bringing co-pays and employees share of premiums up a well; small companies are hurting under the burden of trying to insure their employees or they risk losing good employees to companies that offer insurance; the health of our country way down.

But there is a bright side - salaries of health insurance executives have gone way up. I'm sure they are grateful.”

“I agree! Joe has been around a long time but is funny and a real person. I like him and am very happy he is the VP. I think he's doing a great job. The right loves to say he's a gaffe-machine but that's because they are afraid of him and are jealous of the Obama/Biden team.”

“Actually, everyone KNOWS that Biden is a respected and knowledgeable veteran of the Senate and provides a great benefit to the President (must bring lots of grief for you).

Unlike, the senior Bush, who chose a young kid (Quayle) who would not show him up as a VP, Obama looked for someone of stature. He wasn't afraid of being shown up. Also not like the junior Bush, who chose a senior member of his father's team (probably) because he had no confidence in his own abilities (turned out this lack of confidence was well-earned).

In the Obama White House, Biden's opinion is sought and valued (as is the input from many other sources), but after deliberation, Obama makes the decision. That's what I call a 'Decider'!”

“You want to save Medicare - open it up to everyone.

Charge higher premiums to people who are working. Just having younger, healthier people in the mix who pay premiums but don't need as much medical care as seniors will go a long way to making Medicare more secure.

Also, allowing people to opt into Medicare before 65, will allow those who are ready to retire but are afraid of losing medical insurance, to retire. This will free up more jobs for the younger workers who are suffering.”

“I don't know why she should be called Governor - she quit. If she insists, she should be called the "Governor who Quit" Palin.

Otherwise, who cares if she answers questions as a book-selling shill when she never did while she was running for the VP position.”

“Obama always said he would listen to all sides - and after careful consideration of what his advisers advise, he would make the final decision.

That's what happened here - Biden felt free to his give his opinion and he did. I'm sure that was considered and once the decision was made, I'm also sure that Biden accepted that the final decision is the President's.”

“They probably didn't ask for body armor. I remember collecting money in order to buy our soldiers vests and how many died because their tanks weren't properly armored as well.

It's shameful and Mr. Rumsfeld should just be quiet.”

“Rumsfeld wanted to transform the US miltary into a leaner, more lethal force. And in the beginning of the in Afghanistan, it looks like that would work. We were winning and al-Qeda was retreating. But Rumsfeld wanted to prove himself in a larger theater. And, Bush/Cheney wanted to invade Iraq - so troops were pulled from Afghanistan before they could complete their mission and sent to Iraq. Remember, he said something like "there aren't enough things to bomb in Afghanistan".

The rest, as they say, is history. Afghanistan devolved into the mess we have today, the Taliban gained strength. Plus the leaner army couldn't accomplish its task in Iraq either - the much-vaulted Surge was required because there were too few troops brought in to the do the job in the first place.

The Generals knew asking for more troops would go against what they knew was Rumsfeld's plan for the War. Whether or not, more troops were specifically asked for (and I would imagine that they were) - a competent Defense Secretary should have seen that the fight was being lost because there wasn't enough 'boots on the ground' and done something about it. Finally, President Bush did so something - he fired Rumsfeld, possibly the most incompetent Defense Secretary in our history.

I think Rumsfeld should keep as quiet as possible. There are too many people who remember the truth and too many people who suffered because of his policies.”

“This isn't about foreign affairs - it's about history.

Those of us who were paying attention at the beginning of the war in Iraq remember. And we don't want history to be rewritten by lies. This is an excerpt from the book by Richard Clarke:

“Rumsfeld was saying that we needed to bomb Iraq,” Clarke said to Stahl. “And we all said … no, no. Al-Qaeda is in Afghanistan. We need to bomb Afghanistan. And Rumsfeld said there aren’t any good targets in Afghanistan. And there are lots of good targets in Iraq. I said, ‘Well, there are lots of good targets in lots of places, but Iraq had nothing to do with it."

No one should ever forget, or allow Mr. Rumsfeld, to forget why we are still fighting a war in Afghanistan that could have been won years ago.”

“Cheney, Rumfeld and Bush would love us all to forget what actually happened. And are trying to lie about it in order to change history more in their favor.

We must remember and thanks to the internet, the information is easily accessible. If the truth isn't told and retold, lies will take their place and we will never be able to learn from the past.”